Sad news from Texas Motor Speedway Autox event

Don't know anything but this:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Teen-girl-dies-in-go-kart-crash-at-Texas-Motor-5635059.php

I saw that posted on the ccrscca Facebook page, that's horrible. I hope they figure out what happened quickly and don't go banning things as a knee jerk reaction

ryanty22 wrote: I hope they figure out what happened quickly and don't go banning things as a knee jerk reaction

It said she ran into a cable after accelerating past the finish line.

RIP.

Similar thread here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/anyone-know-the-back-story-on-this/88972/page1/

Probably should have used a better thread title.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

ryanty22 wrote: I hope they figure out what happened quickly and don't go banning things as a knee jerk reaction

It said she ran into a cable after accelerating past the finish line. RIP.

Yes I read that, but why is the question.

I'd really like to know more about the cable. Why was it there in the first place, and could they not have aimed the finish away from it. I've seen too many issues in stop zones and it's not uncommon for someone to blow through them. I remember an event where a Corvette ran into a dumpster that no one thought was possible to hit. You never know. It's always better to err on safety, but of course I have no knowledge of anything about this incident. This is very sad news though.

From what I've read, the stop box was 250' long and the cable was 200' or so beyond that. For some reason she couldn't stop within the 250' and kept going. If brake failure was involved, once she hit grass there was little she could do to avoid hitting anything. If we were to take those kinds of obstacles into account, we wouldn't have anywhere to autocross. That being said, I'll be double checking the cutoff switch and brake system on both of my karts. I can't imagine what the family, friends, and local autox community is going through.

I don't want to see this turn into an armchair quarterback session since it sounds like none of us were there, so let's turn this into a positive:

How safe are your events? Is the finish area clear and safe? Are there a few quick and easy things that could be done to make them safer? What about the rest of the site?

Do your young autocrossers know what to do if the throttle sticks? Or the brakes fail? Or a wheel falls off? Should that be covered in the morning ground school?

Any ideas on how to make the sport safer and better?

Thanks.

Excellent direction, David. I posted in the other thread on this subject that we are conscious of the risk when our son is on track at WKA events. Safety at a solo event is hardly a factor in my mind, because it's one kart at a time in a parking lot. This incident will cause me to put a much more critical eye toward safety and what-ifs. That is the least I can do to honor a life lost.

David S. Wallens wrote: I don't want to see this turn into an armchair quarterback session since it sounds like none of us were there, so let's turn this into a positive: How safe are your events? Is the finish area clear and safe? Are there a few quick and easy things that could be done to make them safer? What about the rest of the site? Do your young autocrossers know what to do if the throttle sticks? Or the brakes fail? Or a wheel falls off? Should that be covered in the morning ground school?

I have a fairly tight site. Saturday's course had (I thought) plenty of lineup and braking room at the stop zone. Turns out it was much more iffy than I thought - somebody spun and wound up sideways, less than a carlength from a light pole. You can bet I won't use that setup any more.

Excellent point on ground school. We usually have a novice walk, but I will emphasize control points much more thoroughly during the regular driver's meeting.

Crazy thought: How many of us here have experienced a stuck throttle? And did you instinctively know what to do?

I had it happen once.

David S. Wallens wrote: Crazy thought: How many of us here have experienced a stuck throttle? And did you instinctively know what to do? I had it happen once.

When I was little - the throttle in our '71 New Yorker stuck to the floor on i81. My mother burned out the brakes standing on them and was preparing to grab me and jump out when some guy who must have noticed the trail of brake smoke and panic pulled along side and yelled "TURN IT OFF!" So, worked like a charm and we lived.

Funny how it wasn't obvious. So... yeah, I know instinctively what to do now

David S. Wallens wrote: Crazy thought: How many of us here have experienced a stuck throttle? And did you instinctively know what to do? I had it happen once.

Sixteen and I was driving one of my cousins cars (Mid 70's Ford Gran Torino) out in the country one time. Throttle stuck wide open and brakes failed coming down a hill to a crossroads. Luckily no cross traffic and I'm pretty sure we went airborn when we hit the crossroad. I stuck it in the soft mud of a field across the road.

Pure panic, didn't have a clue what to do besides hope no one was coming down the road. Pure luck that no one got hurt.

David S. Wallens wrote: Crazy thought: How many of us here have experienced a stuck throttle? And did you instinctively know what to do?

No, and no. I'd like to think I'd toss it into neutral and shut off the car instinctively, but I'm not sure 1) if that's right or if 2) that's what I'd actually do.

I occasionally get bored on a back road and do drills for that sort of thing (stuck throttle, brake failure, etc.), just so I remember how it behaves in those situations.

I've had both a stuck throttle and lost all brakes...thankfully not at the same time. And I've lost front wheels on two separate cars. Once because a mechanic left all the lug nuts loose, and another time when a lower control arm broke away from it's mounting. Each time I was very thankful at what autocross and racing had taught me. If I had young kids, these would be must have practice sessions.

When you have a stuck throttle, instinctively you might want to turn the key to shut it off, but remember it will also lock up the steering wheel. To me, that was the most tricky. I was fortunate in that I "fixed" it by playing with the gas pedal with my foot, but if it had been in an area where there was heavy traffic or other obstacles, it could have had a more severe ending. My issue ended up being the throttle linkage getting hung up right at the carb. It was a first drive out after carb work. I never again did that without checking all motion and that everything was tight. Being in a hurry can hurt you.

I wouldn't say I instinctively knew what to do, I was just lucky in what I did worked and that I managed to avoid everything around me.

A lot of regions now have teen driving schools. I believe for sure these types of situations should be covered. Covering them at a driver's meeting may not be the best place, but certainly all obstacles should be pointed out. With some of the lots I've autocrossed on, avoiding obstacles can be difficult at best. In 30 years I've seen a couple of cars in ditches, 3 cars roll, and one hit a curb so hard it totaled the car. Oh, and two cars totaled at an autocross held on an oval. If you are involved long enough, you most certainly will see something. To me, the course designer needs to look very hard at how they are laying out the course in reference to any potential problem areas. Some people are very good at it, others not so much. We had a few course design classes years ago, and I think they should be absolutely required by any one that wants to lay one out.

I know this is long, but I absolutely feel for the family. I agree about not having a knee jerk reaction, but we always need to keep safety in mind at every event we put on or attend. If you see anything you believe to be unsafe, do not be afraid to walk up the organizer or safety steward and point it out. You may notice something that they have overlooked, and most of them are friendly and willing to listen.

Again, I do not know any details about this accident, and this is not directed at anything that happened there.

Parents with kids in karts should practice immediate hard steer input to spin to a stop. I do this with my kids by having them watch for my signal and they spin the kart to a stop. Hopefully when it happens under stress they will remember and respond immediately from muscle memory.

Never lost brakes, but did have a stuck throttle once. Fortunately, it was a 4 speed Chevette and, even though it was WOT, it wasn't really picking up that much speed. It took me a few seconds to figure out to drop it in neutral and turn the key back one click (which, fortunately, didn't lock the wheel on a Chevette) to kill the motor. Had I had a similar struck throttle for the same amount of time on some other cars I've owned, I would have easily been turning triple digits. It was also on a long, straight stretch of road. I suspect I wouldn't have been as successful at high speed or if I was required to wheel the car at the same time. But for the glacial acceleration of the Chevette, I very well might have panicked, because I was a relatively new driver at the time.

BTW, as it turned out, it was caused by the PO, who had put aftermarket floormats in the car which didn't fit well and allowed the gas pedal get wedged under the mat.

I had the throttle stick open on my Volvo 850, on my way to get a Christmas tree with my dad no less. I pulled out of the driveway and started accelerating down the road and when I went to ease up the car didn't stop acdelerating. So I go "Hmm, thats weird. Maybe the throttle is stuck? Lets give it a good jab and see. Oh E36 M3, I guess it is." My first reaction was fortunately to put it in neutral, then slow down and pull off of the road while banging off of the rev limiter before shutting it off. The car may not have liked it but I think it was the proper way to react.

My brother tells a story of losing brakes in an old Rabbit. Shifted to neutral at about 50 and was able to make it into a big parking lot. Coasted in circles until it stopped.

For someone who grew up driving old carbureted cars in the winter, stuck throttles are of no concern. I've driven cars many miles home with the throttle stuck to the floor- cycle the key on for a while, off for a while...Can get a bit hard on mufflers.

Turning the key off with a stuck throttle will not lock your steering. It won't even make it stiffer, until you coast down to quite a low speed. The transmission will continue to drive the engine until it stops with a manual trans, or gets slow enough to disengage the converter in an automatic.

David S. Wallens wrote: Crazy thought: How many of us here have experienced a stuck throttle? And did you instinctively know what to do? I had it happen once.

I had it happen a couple times and My Dad said always cut the Ignition off and drop the trans in Neutral/Push the Clutch in. On a Oval kart, I had the brakes go out and I kid you not, i used my foot to stop. As for the Stuck Throttle issue, The Clone engine we run has a Shut-off switch in front of the engine or you could just pull the Spark Plug Wire.

Yep, once in a shifter kart. I had moved the pedals WAYYY up so that a friend could drive. Didn't realize that i had gotten my foot in a position that I couldn't pull back from WOT. Instinctly pulled the clutch in. Thankfully it was a gearbox kart and not a clutch kart like in Texas. Please don't assume stuck throttle. We don't actually know the cause of it yet. For all we know it could have been medical.

If I ever have a throttle hang on a car I'm putting it into neutral and safely hitting the brakes. I don't care how many times the engine bangs off the limiter or how many connecting rods the oil pan fails to hold...

racerdave600 wrote: When you have a stuck throttle, instinctively you might want to turn the key to shut it off, but remember it will also lock up the steering wheel.

not if you only turn it one click … or at least that's the case for any and all the cars/trucks I've ever driven